The Oil Spill Monitor and Alarm System (OSMAS) consists of an array of underwater sensors deployed just below the water surface near piers, pipelines, transfer points, storage vessels, or other areas of high spill risk. The sensors can detect floating product (surface sheen) from below the surface as well as detect emulsified or dissolved phase petroleum in the water column. Information corresponding to the amount of oil detected by each of the sensors is transmitted over a secure radio-frequency data link to a central base station computer for display, logging, analysis, and alarming. Statistically-based algorithms that "learn" normal background oil contaminant levels are used to determine whether a spill has occurred and serve to minimize the occurrence false alarms.

Automated Oil Spill Detection System for Real-Time Monitoring of Petroleum Hydrocarbon Contaminants in the Marine Environment
The Oil Spill Monitor and Alarm System (OSMAS) consists of an array of underwater sensors deployed just below the water surface near piers, pipelines, transfer points, storage vessels, or other areas of high spill risk. The sensors can detect floating product (surface sheen) from below the surface as well as detect emulsified or dissolved phase petroleum in the water column. Information corresponding to the amount of oil detected by each of the sensors is transmitted over a secure radio-frequency data link to a central base station computer for display, logging, analysis, and alarming. Statistically-based algorithms that "learn" normal background oil contaminant levels are used to determine whether a spill has occurred and serve to minimize the occurrence false alarms.

Conceptual diagram of the Oil Spill Monitor and Alarm System (OSMAS).

The system is designed to augment, and in some cases replace, human visual observation as the principal means of detecting spills. The primary intended use of the system is to protect marine facilities from accidental petroleum discharges by providing responding authorities with immediate notification of the occurrence of a leak or spill. By enhancing responders' ability to exercise timely countermeasures, early detection is expected to offer an effective means of minimizing the environmental and financial impact of a spill. Automated spill detection is particularly suited for use at night or during foul weather or choppy conditions when visual detection of oil on water is difficult or impossible.